The American Heart Association (AHA) revises the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course approximately every 5 years, citing the scientific literature for any changes to content and management recommendations. With ACLS 2005, the AHA also revised the methods used to teach course content. The AHA cited no evidence in making these changes. The ACLS 2005 course, distributed in early 2007, makes greater use of videos to teach students. This prospective study surveyed opinions of both students and instructors in an effort to determine the level of satisfaction with this method of teaching.

During 16 consecutive ACLS courses, all students and instructors were asked to complete a questionnaire. The students provided demographic information, but completed the survey anonymously. Four questions probed the participants' opinions about the effectiveness of videos in learning ACLS skills. Experienced participants were asked to compare the new teaching methods with previous courses. Opinions were compared among several subgroups based on sex, occupation and previous experience.

Of the 180 students who participated, 71% felt the videos were unequivocally useful for teaching ACLS skills. Fewer first-time students were unequivocally positive (59%) compared with those who had taken 2 or more previous courses (84%). A small proportion of students (13%) desired more hands-on practice time. Of the 16 instructors who participated, 31% felt that the videos were useful for teaching ACLS skills. No differences were found between doctors and nurses, or between men and women.

The use of standardized videos in ACLS courses was felt by the majority of students and a minority of instructors to be unequivocally useful. First-time students had more doubts about the effectiveness of videos.